Twitter: @antipattern

Researchgate: Christian_Kliesch

I am interested in how infants use and understand ostensive communication, i.e. communication about communication that tells them that they are communicated with. 

Ostensive communication is one of the key characteristics of human communication, as it can be used as a foundation for a complex, flexible communication system, such as human language. Therefore, studying how infants make use of ostensive communication may offer important insights on how human language develops ontogenetically. 

Already from very early on, infants are sensitive to ostensive signals, such as direct gaze and infant directed speech. I am particularly interested in how infants use such signals to predict others' actions and interpret them as meaningful. Furthermore, I am interested in how children transition from the use of fixed ostensive signals to become more flexible in their interpretation of signals as ostensive. 

As part of my research, I study infants and children of 0-36 months using EEG measures.

Before coming to Lancaster, I worked as a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, and at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, also in Leipzig. I also hold an MSc in Evolution of Language and Cognition from University of Edinburgh, and an MA in Psychology from University of Glasgow. 

I currently teach seminars in Psych 101 - Introduction to Psychology and Psych 205 - Developmental Psychology. 

2012 Master of Science Evolution of Language & Cognition, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
MSc Thesis: “Implicit and explicit iterative mind-reading.”

2011 Master of Arts in Psychology, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Final year project: “Activation of gender stereotypes in English language comprehension—A study using the visual world paradigm.”

2014-2014: Research Assistant, Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, (DE)

2013-2014: Intern | Research Assistant, Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, (DE)